Connecting to a Director Using Remote Access

If you connect to a Control4^® Composer Pro Remote Director, you are making “live” changes to a remote system controller, where changes are communicated over an Internet connection rather than a local network connection. This type of connection is not available, however, until the initial

configuration and registration are completed.

A remote connection requires either a temporary connection granted by the user, or a persistent connection to the system made available by setting up a 4Sight Internet Services subscription.

 Temporary Connection. If the customer is registered on my.control4.com, their controller registration is completed, and remote access is enabled. The system is accessible for temporary remote access after the Control4 Installer or Technical Support person requests system access through my.control4.com, AND the customer instructs the controller through a Navigator to 'Check In.' For more information, see “Setting Up Remote Access.”

 Constant Connection. If the customer purchased a 4Sight subscription AND activated the subscription for their controller through my.control4.com, then the system is always online and accessible for immediate remote access.

Note: The customer may revoke access rights through my.control.com at any time, but this is not recommended as it interferes with routine Control4 updates.

5.4.1 Requirements

 The customer must be registered at my.control4.com and remote access must be enabled. (See

“Registering the Control4 System” or “Register the Controller from a Navigator.”)

 The customer must EITHER own a 4Sight subscription (sold separately) and have it activated OR make a temporary connection using the 'Check In' feature in Composer Pro and a Navigator.

 If using 4Sight, obtain a 4Sight subscription for your customer and activate the subscription as described in “Setting Up Remote Access.”

 A PC with Composer initially installed must be in the same local network as the controller when remote access is set up.

Before you can use the Remote Director option, you must configure the system to support remote access (see “Registering the Control4 System”).

5.4.2 Configuring Remote Access

To configure remote access:

1. Ensure that the computer and controller are on the same physical location and connected via an Ethernet connection.

2. From the Composer startup screen, click Director on Local Network.

3. From the Director dialog, choose the Director’s network address of the controller hardware you are setting up, and click Connect.

Choosing the Local Director is essential to remote access setup, as it defines to the system the controller you want to use to log into the remote access service.

Perform this step at the same physical location as the controller to give you remote access to that system. If necessary, click Add to add the address manually.

4. From the Tools menu, choose Account Services to start the registration process.

5. Complete the steps on the Account Services page which includes clicking the link to create or edit a my.control4.com account AND doing one of the following:

 Activate a 4Sight Internet Services subscription for a continuous connection.

 Establish a temporary connection using the Check In option.

For detailed instructions about configuring remote access, see “Registering the Control4 System”

and “Setting Up a 4Sight Subscription.”

6. From the File menu, click Exit to exit Composer.

5.4.3 Connecting Using Remote Access

To connect to a Remote Director:

1. Using a PC with Composer Pro installed, obtain a remote Internet connection (an Internet connection that is not in the same computer network as the actual controller).

2. From the desktop, start Composer.

3. At the Composer startup screen, click Remote Director. Remote Director connects you to the home network while working in Composer from a remote location.

4. When the Select Remote Account dialog box appears, select the account you want to access, and click Connect.

If the account name doesn't appear under MyControl4 Account Name, click Add to add the account name, and click OK in the dialog box that appears. This is the Account Name you created during registration at my.control4.com. After you do this, repeat Step 4.

When the Connect to <User email address> dialog box appears, enter the User Email Address and Password, and then click Connect.

The next screen shows that your account, the User Email Address, and the Password are being verified. This may take several minutes to complete as it is accesses a remote connection.

When authenticated and connected through the MyControl4 Remote Access Service, a list of Directors available for connection appears.

5. Select the Director you want to connect to, and then click Connect.

When connected, Composer opens and the main Composer view connects to the controller remotely.

Composer functions normally as if you were connected to Local Director, allowing you to configure, program, and troubleshoot the Control4 system.

5.5 Ensuring that Director and Composer Are Compatible

Verify that the Control4^® controller software (Director) and the Composer software are on the same version before beginning to design a project, or any time you use Composer to ensure the best communication between the two.

In the Composer menu bar, click Help > About Composer.

From the dialog that appears, compare the Composer and Director version numbers. For the Control4 system to run properly, these numbers must match. If they don't match, update Composer and/or Director to get to the same version. See the Composer Pro User Guide for information about updating your system, or see “Update Manager.”

Example:

Composer version: 2.3.0.105958 Director version: 2.3.0.105958

Note that the two versions in the screen below are the same.